FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT - PAGE 4

The Baltimore County Police Department is among 149 agencies whose use of federal funding intended to put more officers on the street is being questioned by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Justice, officials said yesterday.The inspector general's report, made public this week, summarizes an extensive two-year audit completed last fall of how local police agencies used grants issued under the Violent Crime Control Act of 1994 -- part of President Clinton's promise to put 100,000 new officers on America's streets.

Plans for a no-holds-barred motor race from Towson to Ocean City on Memorial Day weekend may have been scuttled, but Baltimore County officials say they remain on watch to quash such a race before anyone would see the finish line.For a $100 entrance fee paid to unnamed organizers, racers in the "First Annual Cannonball Run" were told to leave from an after-hours club in Towson between midnight May 25 and 3 a.m., and to arrive at an Ocean City restaurant by 6 a.m. May 26.Featuring a racing car and the 55 mph speed limit in a circle with a diagonal slash through it, a flier asks, "And how fast can you get there?"

The family of a Rosedale woman killed in January when her car was hit by a police cruiser has tentatively settled a multimillion-dollar wrongful death lawsuit filed against the officer and the Baltimore County Police Department, a lawyer representing the victim's children said yesterday. Bonnie Pappas, 45, was killed Jan. 8 after an officer responding to a 911 call broad-sided her car as she drove across Pulaski Highway near Lorraine Avenue in Rosedale. Baltimore County prosecutors decided last month not to file criminal charges against Ray Pabon, a patrol officer assigned to the White Marsh precinct who drove the cruiser that struck the woman's car. Bill Toohey, a spokesman with the county Police Department, said that an internal administrative investigation into the crash is continuing and that he could not discuss whether disciplinary action had been taken against Pabon, who returned to work after recovering from injuries.

Harford County badly needs to establish professionalism in its law enforcement agency, particularly in the leadership. The best way to achieve that is to create a county police department separate from the sheriff's office.Harford voters will get to make that choice Nov. 8. We strongly urge approval of ballot Question A in order to stop the political merry-go-round on this vital issue of public safety.A professional police chief, appointed by the county executive and confirmed by the County Council, will best serve Harford's interests as a rapidly growing and increasingly urbanized county.

Baltimore County police are working with Canadian authorities investigating a fraudulent lottery scheme that bilked a 90-year-old Towson woman out of $30,000 during the past year, officials said yesterday. In addition to the Towson case, at least two similar schemes have been reported in the county in recent weeks, said Bill Toohey, a spokesman for the county Police Department. One case involves Canada and the other Israel. Both apparently targeted the elderly. Toohey said the Towson victim was first notified by mail that she had won $1 million, but had to pay taxes and fees to collect the cash.

By this time next year, the Baltimore County Fire Department could face $3 million in retirement costs, the county fire chief said yesterday, with 217 firefighters, administrators and office personnel eligible to leave by June 30, 2000.Fire Chief John F. O'Neill told County Council members at a budget hearing that of the 217 employees, 23 are due to retire by July 1 of this year. He argued that the 6 percent pay raise proposed for firefighters in the budget negotiations this year should cut back on the number of firefighters who will retire in the coming year.

Annapolis police officer finds snake in cruiser An Annapolis police officer returning to his cruiser from a routine check made a slithery discovery: a live snake wrapped around his steering column. Officer Adam Dufresne discovered the 18-inch-long snake - the type was not known - after stopping at West Street and Monticello Avenue around 4:30 a.m. It was unclear how the snake got into the cruiser. The officer captured the snake and turned it over to Anne Arundel County's animal control division, said Hal Dalton, an Annapolis police spokesman.

Panel nominates two for vacancies on school board A fellow at a Washington think tank and the president of the county's Parent-Teacher Association were nominated Wednesday night to join the Anne Arundel County school board. The School Board Nominating Convention will send the names of New America Foundation fellow Jim Snider, 43, of Severna Park and PTA chief Eugene Peterson, 51, of Russett to the governor as its top choices to fill the board's at-large and District 32 seats, respectively.

A black Baltimore County police officer in the same unit where another officer complained of being taunted with a noose has filed a $12.6 million federal lawsuit, charging that he was passed over for promotion, disciplined and demoted because of his race.In the suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Officer Charles Floyd claims his supervisors gave him poor evaluations because he is black, which prevented him from being promoted despite high test scores.The suit names Baltimore County Police Department, former Chief Michael Gambrill, current Chief Terrence B. Sheridan and seven department members.